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[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 347 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 347

 Expressing the sense of the Senate that lenders holding mortgages on 
homes in communities of the Gulf Coast devastated by Hurricanes Katrina 
 and Rita should extend current voluntary mortgage payment forbearance 
     periods and not foreclose on properties in those communities.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 21, 2005

   Ms. Landrieu (for herself and Mr. Vitter) submitted the following 
                               resolution

            December 22 (legislative day, December 21), 2005

                        Considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
 Expressing the sense of the Senate that lenders holding mortgages on 
homes in communities of the Gulf Coast devastated by Hurricanes Katrina 
 and Rita should extend current voluntary mortgage payment forbearance 
     periods and not foreclose on properties in those communities.

Whereas the Gulf Coast of the United States has experienced 1 of the worst 
        hurricane seasons on record;
Whereas Hurricane Katrina and multiple levee breaks destroyed an estimated 
        275,000 homes in the Gulf Coast;
Whereas 20,664 businesses in the Gulf Coast sustained catastrophic damage from 
        Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita;
Whereas, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis at the Department of 
        Commerce, personal income has fallen more than 25 percent in Louisiana 
        in the third quarter of 2005;
Whereas, in the time since Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, the Small 
        Business Administration has only approved 20 percent of disaster loan 
        applications for homeowners in the Gulf Coast and has a backlog of more 
        than 176,000 applications for this assistance as of December 21, 2005;
Whereas, of the 20,741 homeowner disaster loan applications that have been 
        approved in the Gulf Coast by the Small Business Administration, only 
        1,444 have been fully disbursed;
Whereas, in response to these circumstances, commercial banks, mortgage banks, 
        credit unions, and other mortgage lenders voluntarily instituted 90-day 
        loan forbearance periods after Hurricane Katrina and did not require 
        home owners in the Gulf Coast to make mortgage payments until on or 
        about December 1, 2005;
Whereas, after the termination of the 90-day forbearance period, many home and 
        business owners have received notice from their lenders that they face 
        foreclosure unless they make a lump sum balloon payment in the amount of 
        the mortgage payments previously subject to forbearance; and
Whereas foreclosure on homes and businesses in the Gulf Coast will have a 
        detrimental impact on the economy of the area, will deprive property 
        owners of their equity at a time when they can least afford it, and will 
        have a negative impact on lenders who will be holding properties that 
        may not be readily marketable on the open market: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) Congress should act early in the second session of the 
        109th Congress to consider legislation to provide relief to 
        homeowners in the Gulf Coast; and
            (2) commercial banks, mortgage banks, credit unions, and 
        other mortgage lenders should extend mortgage payment 
        forbearance to March 31, 2006, in order to allow Congress the 
        time to consider such legislation.
                                 <all>
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